


Prince Anthony and the Seven Gremlins

by orphan_account



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Humor, Humor, reposting for a third time bye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28342566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Fairytale AU that tries to adapt the first Iron Man into a kind-of modern Snow White.OR The one where Tony doesn't eat the poisoned apple but is Snow White anyways. Featuring hunter Bucky and Prince Charming Pepper.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Kudos: 4





	Prince Anthony and the Seven Gremlins

**Author's Note:**

> This was just lying in my drafts so I thought why not post it? This happened when I was in the peak of my mcu phase and had read a shit ton of meta and many many thoughts about Tony and the first Iron Man. One of my first pieces of writing- ever, so it might lack polish, since I'm still a budding writer and don't have the energy to rework this at all. I don't think this will get a lot of hits or anything but oh well. I just want it out here. I hope whoever decided to give this a try (2020 ends in 4 days I'm aware) likes it!

Once upon a time, there lived a prince. And while he was a prince, he was very much like you and me: bored all the time. Which made his imagination really wild and his intellect superior to many. Prince Anthony, who went by Tony, was very little when his mother died. The Queen was beautiful, and Tony had inherited that from her, but he also had her kind heart and her soft words. Needless to say, Tony was devastated when he lost her. And so, as a few years passed with Tony unhappy, his father, King Howard, began to wonder if Tony would flourish if he had another parent.

And so he called for the Royal Butler Jarvis and asked him to announce immediately: The king was to get married. And then the courting seasons began and out of all the beautiful, charming and kind people he could've chosen to be his wife, he chose someone named Stane, who was inherently evil and hated kids. And so, Stane was to be Tony's new mother.

When the marriage happened, Tony had something to look up to. He had a new person he could trust and confide in. Little did he know that Stane was evil and had only married Howard for the kingdom.

So Tony, very much excited, celebrated the arrival of his new mother. Stane had a poisonous smile but Tony didn't mind; he would have more than enough sweet smiles now that he had a new mom. Howard was just happy that Tony was happier and was studying harder for his princely duties, since he would inherit the throne.

Stane inserted a mirror on his wall. The mirror was named 'Ten Rings". Ten Rings was a smart mirror and was apparently omniscient, which meant it could hack into all the security footage whenever it wanted to.

"Mirror mirror on the wall who's the smartest of them all?" Stane asked to the mirror.

"You are!" It cried. Because at the moment, Tony was young and naive, as one of his age should be, and was thus unaware of any dangers that Stane might pose, and that made him not so smart, in a way. Stane nodded, satisfied, and went to the King's chambers.

-

As it would happen, the king fell very ill within months of his new marriage. This may or may not have been the work of Stane. Tony looked up to him no matter how cold and calculating he was, and wouldn't leave his side. And when it finally happened, when the king died, Tony locked himself in his room for days, refusing to come out. When he had to, for the funeral, he found Stane impeccably dressed in mourning clothes, the look bordering more on lavish and stylish than grieving. Tony paid no mind; he was an orphan now. Stane's fashionable clothing was the last thing. He tried to put on a brave face for the people.

Before the funeral, Jarvis pulled him aside.

"You must be strong," he said, gripping his shoulders. "The throne must fall to you, and no one else."

Tony was a little confused. Whatever could he mean? Who else would want the throne? But he was too sad to comprehend Jarvis's words. And so, not knowing any real coping mechanisms, the prince spent that night and the next few partying and drinking his grief away. Months went by and Tony's life was stuck in a vicious cycle of overworking himself between the parties that were held at the local club. Sometimes, he'd bring someone home. That list only seemed to keep growing. Jarvis brought him hangover potions in the mornings and he consumed it feeling guilty. While Jarvis never asked any questions, Tony could always tell he was disappointed.

So he worked for hours and hours to make up for it, because he didn't want to disappoint Jarvis. And the cycle continued.

-

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the smartest of them all?" Stane asked. The mirror met Stane's eyes evenly.

"The boy grows. He will soon be a man," the mirror said.

Stane narrowed his eyes. Something had to be done.

-

Stane was growing suspicious of what Tony did in his lab, but the boy wouldn't let him in. At first, he declined politely, but as STane kept insisting and insisting, Tony's replies got bleak to the point that they started bordering on disrespect.

"Can I see what you do down there?" Stane asked per usual one evening after supper.

"Good night, mother," Tony replied, rolling his eyes before leaving, Stane remaining in his seat, stunned. That boy just ignored him completely! And so he started his plans for taking over the kingdom. The first step was killing Tony. Well, to be honest, the plan had no other steps. That was the only step. The entire plan was the one step. Kill Tony.

Stane tried a lot. Poisoning, arranging certain suits of armor in such a way that they'd fall on Tony, spilling oil on the floor where the stairs began on Tony's usual route to the labs so he'd slip and fall and split his head, but nothing worked. Jarvis was too smart about the food thing, Happy, Tony's army general, always made sure the suits of armor were in perfect condition and in no danger of falling, and Tony just looked at the oil and went down to the lab around it, screaming at one of his contraptions, saying he'd donate it away if it spilled more oil. Apparently, these bots he worked on regularly leaked oil and Tony was an expert at noticing it.

Stane cursed all of them.

One day, however, something new happened. Stane was eavesdropping on Tony, Jarvis and Happy, and the later two were trying to convince Tony to hold a hunt.

"It's good for the court's morale," Happy said. "Besides, some time outside will do you only good, boss."

"I can only agree," Jarvis said nodding.

"Fine!" Tony groaned, his youth evident in his distaste of the event. "We'll have a hunt on the day of the new moon. Alert all the nobles."

Stane saw his chance. He schemed up a plan in his bald head and decided to hire a huntsman. The best huntsman in the country. A man named Bucky Barnes, who had earned the moniker of White Wolf. Stane met him in his personal courtroom, with no lights so the huntsman wouldn't realize it was him.

"So you are the White Wolf?" he asked imperiously from his throne.

"Yes sir," the man replied. God, his wild hair and clumpy mascara were already putting Stane off. But apparently, this man was the best aim in the entire kingdom.

"And you are a sword for hire, by profession?" Stane asked, to which the man shrugged.

"I'm a sniper so I prefer guns."

Stane was starting to hate him. He sighed. He would deal with this annoyance if it meant Tony would be dead.

"Anything you want in exchange for killing the crown prince," Stane said. The White Wolf smirked.

"I'm listening."

-

Tony slumped on his horse. This was boring because a) he hated hunting and b) even if he _had_ liked it, there was no game around to chase.

"I don't like this," he complained. "Besides, It's wrong to kill animals for fun."

"Yes, but think of it this way: we're serving all of it to the hungry. It's winter. The kids will love the venison soup!" Happy said. Tony sighed dramatically, looking at the woods. He was yawning when he saw a flash of white in the woods. Tony spurred his horse.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

"See what, sir?" Jarvis asked. Tony urged his horse on. He'd heard of the things that lived in the woods, of course, but to see one... especially a rare monster- Tony's curiosity was already piqued.

The guard and a few nobles started to follow him and the animal but Jarvis and Happy stopped them.

"Let him have a chase," Happy said, "He needs a win."

In the woods, Tony saw the thing again. A wolf, as white as snow. Tony breathed in wonder. It moved through the bushes, always in his line of sight, and lingered as if waiting for him to follow. And Tony did. He followed the wolf to a rather dark part of the woods, where the trees were so dense it was hard to see. The wolf shone, its electric blue eyes boring into Tony's. And then, just like that, he transformed into a man. A butt-naked man with neck length hair and bad mascara. The man walked to a tree and began looking for something in the hollow. He fished out some clothes and put them on and turned to Tony, his cheeks red.

"You were a wolf," Tony said. "And you turned at will? I've heard of were-people, but-"

"Calm down," the man said, cheeks still red and holding up his hands. "I was sent here to kill you."

Tony frowned. "You said "calm down" and then that you were supposed to kill me, so like, what the hell dude?"

"My name is Bucky," he said. "And I decided not to kill you."

"Awfully moral for a sword for hire, uhh thanks for not killing me?" Tony ventured off his horse.

"I prefer guns."

"You're annoying. But start talking. Who paid you? Why haven't you killed me?"

"You don't seem surprised," Bucky said. Tony shrugged.

"'M a prince. People wanting to kill me is kinda in the job description."

"To answer your question, I decided not to kill you because you're very pretty."

Tony raised his eyebrows elegantly, much like he'd seen his mother do on occasion. He hoped he looked half as regal and commanding.

"That's it? Someone paid you to kill me and you're just giving it up? Because I'm pretty? By the way, your mascara is horrible," Tony said.

"Well yeah, um," Bucky blushed. "The kingdom falls to you. Figured you'd remember a favor like this."

Tony rolled his eyes. "There it is. Look, whoever's paying you, I'll double it."

"No, no, I don't want money," he shook his head, "I'd like a place in the army. Your army."

"As in- ugh nevermind. Okay. Done. You'll get it no questions asked," Tony said immediately.

"Okay," the huntsman said. "So here's the plan-"

"Whoa, whoa," Tony raised his arms. "What plan?"

"Um, the plan so you don't die? You know the queen has it out for you," Bucky said. "Has the queen been acting strange lately?"

Tony thought about Stane tinkering with suits of armor, and Jarvis saying he shouldn't dine in Stane's quarters or that he shouldn't eat anything Stane offers him, or the oil that was in the places Dum-E possibly couldn't have gotten to.

"Nope, not ringin' any bells," Tony shook his head.

"Well here's the surprise: Queen Stane has it out for you." Bucky made the mind blown sound.

"Ah," Tony said. "I see."

"You just found out someone wants to kill you and your reaction is 'Ah, I see." ?" He frowned. "Kinda fucked up, to be honest."

Tony just shrugged again. "Like I said, job description."

"So there's these gremlins in the woods. Their leader, Steve, owes me. If you go and give him this-" Bucky took out what looked like a metal chip, "- he'll know that I've sent you. You can lay low there till we figure out this situation."

"Okay, how do I contact Jarvis and Happy?" Tony asked.

"I'll fill them in," Bucky said. "But I can't do it directly. Stane has a mirror who is his advisor. It has omniscient cameras everywhere. This is the only place where there's none."

Tony thought it over, then took out a pendrive.

"The festival is in a few days. They won't cancel it because of me, it'll only create mass panic. Lady Virginia, the heir to Duke Potts will be attending. Give it to her. She'll know what to do. If she doesn't believe you, tell her "Tony gave you the nickname Pepper." Don't give it to Jarvis or Happy, because they'll suspect and probably detain you," Tony said and Bucky nodded.

"Nice doing business with you. Don't forget about the army placement," Bucky said. "By the way, the Queen asked for your heart, so if I wanna go undetected..."

Tony opened his satchel that was on his horse and took out the thing that kept him alive. The arc reactor. Tony had been cursed a few years back and the arc reactor was the only thing keeping his heart from being stabbed. He had built a better model, but the old one was in the castle, in his room. Pepper had framed and gifted it to him when he had wanted to throw it out. Luckily, his night lamp that he brought everywhere was also of the same shape, and it would make a suitable decoy for Tony's real arc reactor. King of like a deer heart substituting for a human heart in the stories.

He handed the fake arc to Bucky.

Stane would probably save it for experiments, so they could figure out a plan till then.

"Farewell, beautiful one," Bucky said before leaving. "Find the gremlins."

-

Tony freed his horse of all that he would need to stay alive and had it go back to the rest of the party. He found an apple tree and filled an extra bag he carried with a lot of them, taking one for the road. He'd been hiking for almost three hours now and still hadn't found the gremlins, who he wasn't sure would be friendly.

He'd reminisced about his curse while he walked. The shrapnel in his heart. The magic in the arc that kept him alive. He remembered the cave. He remembered the magic Yinsen taught him and the improvements he'd made to it. He hoped for the love of God that Stane wouldn't destroy the decoy arc reactor straight away and blow Bucky's cover.

-

By the time night had fallen and Tony had hiked high and deep into the woods, he'd come to two conclusions about Bucky's gremlins. A) They were nonexistent or B) they were good at hiding and didn't want to be found. Gremlins weren't that popular of a species and there were next to no reports on them. They were, according to oral folklore, very hard to find and when they were extant, didn't exactly give themselves up for examinations by humans.

Even the books they did have on gremlins in the well stocked library at the castle, Tony had not read because gremlins? Really? Why would anyone ever want to read about something that was maybe not even real. The conspiracy theorists still checked out the books regularly. Tony was broken out of his musings suddenly by a voice.

"Did someone call my name?" the voice said. Tony immediately hid behind a tree.

"No, Clint, will you shut the fuck up?" another voice shushed him, this one female. "You're scaring off prey."

Tony's heart was thumping at the possibility that these were probably gremlins, a wary people as they were, and they were out _hunting_. Tony cursed his bad luck. The two continued bickering and Tony hid behind the tree, moving as they did to shelter his body. Tony took calming breaths and focused on them, closing his eyes, when he realized the bickering had stopped. He opened his eyes to see a four foot short, red haired lady peering at him. He let out a small scream.

"Lookie, Clint," she said, a knife pointed at Tony's throat. "This will last us years if we're careful."

"Don't eat me!" Tony yelled. "My meat is not tasty at all! Please don't eat me- AAA!"

The one called Clint jumped down right in front of Tony. The red hair smirked.

"Tie him up and blindfold him."

-

"Are you gremlins?" Tony asked. He had to slow down considerably from his hiking speed to match up with the supposed gremlins' short feet, and had run into Clint seven times already, which resulted in him being snappy.

"Shut up," the red hair, Natasha, he learned, said.

"Helpful," Tony drawled, rolling his eyes and channeling as much of his inner Howard as his anxious mind allowed. "But I'd like to know the species that's going to eat me at least. I won't die ignorant."

"Fine, we're gremlins!" Clint snapped.

"Clint!" Natasha hissed. "What'd Steve say about revealing ourselves?!"

"That we shouldn't do it," Clint mumbled.

"Wait, Steve! I know Steve! I was trying to find you guys!" Tony yelled.

"Shut up, boy," Natasha grumbled. "What, do you want the wild spirits to kill us?"

Tony looked around. The mountain was at one side and the dense forest at the other. Both as dark as the sky. "You're kidding."

Natasha shrugged. "You're welcome to try when you're alone. For now, shut up."

"But I-"

"Unless you want me to knock you out."

Tony shut up quickly after that. Another half-hour or so of trekking, they reached a plain hilltop that had a few trees, where a cozy looking cottage was settled amongst the trees. Natasha took out a key.

"Bit of warning about Steve," Clint said, "He tends to live on the more dramatic side of things, so don't get alarmed."

The door opened with a creak and Tony discovered that the cottage was much bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. In fact, there was a staircase, and at the top of it stood a blonde, stocky man, a little taller than Natasha and Clint, wearing a black net and fur nightgown.

"Are you Steve?" Tony asked. "Cause B-"

"You're late," he remarked solemnly towards Natasha, who sighed.

"No game in the woods," she said. "I'd like to go alone next time. Or take Sharon. This idiot is too loud."

"And who's the guest?" He asked delicately, looking Tony up and down in a way that made him very uncomfortable.

"Look, I only wanted to find you-"

"Found him in the woods," Natasha said.

"He'll last us a year if we're careful," Steve said.

Tony felt uncomfortable and horrified. "What the fuck? Are you going to eat me? For the love of-"

"Ugh, just tell him," Steve said to Natasha, turning and adjusting his nightgown, which seemed to have multiple layers. "I need my sleep n-"

"Bucky sent me!" Tony blurted, before Steve left. He turned promptly, and gaped. As did Natasha. And Clint. He shook free of Clint's now loosened grip on his arm.

"That's right, your pal Bu-"

"How _dare_ he?" Steve breathed. "How dare he send me a boy as a compensation-"

"Oh god, stop!" Tony snapped. "If you'll just give me a sec-"

He dug through his pocket to take out the metal chip.

"He said you owed him? And this chip meant that now you were even or something," Tony offered the chip to Steve. Well, in his general direction, since he was on top of the stairs and couldn't reach him. Natasha took it.

"Are you his new lover?" Steve asked sadly.

"Hell no!" Tony yelled. "I literally just met him today. Besides, I'm like, not into that."

"Alright," Steve said. "What did he say to you?"

"He said I could lie low here for a while," Tony said. "I'm having... problems at the moment."

Steve looked unimpressed.

"Look," Tony sighed defeatedly. "Someone out there hates me alot and wants me, well, dead. Bucky said you could help."

"Someone wants you dead, huh?" Natasha snickered. "That's our division. Welcome to our world."

-

Turns out they didn't have a bed or a mattress that was Tony's size, because they were all very small and built everything themselves. Tony didn't have anything except his apples and satchel and realized clothes were going to be a problem.

"Don't worry," Natasha said. "Clint is amazing with a needle. He'll make you something tomorrow. And Stephen can enlarge a bed for you."

"You guys..." Tony said, heart full. "You don't know how grateful I am."

Natasha offered him a ghost of a smile.

"Don't forget us when you're king," she whispered before exiting the room with a wink.

Tony gaped at the door.

-

Tony had hoped to corner Natasha and ask how the fuck she knew he was the prince, but she'd gone out early and Steve called him in his study. Tony was surprised a bunch of gremlins living in the woods even had a study, but it was decently built.

Steve sat in a high backed chair, wearing a velvet red-and-blue crop top with a star in the middle. Tony had to pinch his tongue extremely hard because of the ridiculous notion of velvet crop tops. And how it looked on a four foot half gremlin.

"So," he said, "you know Bucky. How?"

"I met him in the woods yesterday," Tony said. "Someone, um.. hired him to kill me. He sent me here to save me."

Steve turned to Stephen, who was smart and very skilled at magic and had enlarged a bed for Tony last night.

"Bucky doesn't work without a fee," he said, looking Tony over. "Someone wants you dead. Your clothes are expensive; that's high grade riding gear and your satchel was exquisite. The embroidery on the back was most-"

Steve cleared his throat. Stephen stopped embarrassedly and cleared his throat.

"All of it points to one conclusion: you are an important person of high birth. In fact, you're so important that someone is willing to pay a fortune to kill you. Bucky doesn't work cheap," he said. "Secondly, Bucky doesn't just 'save people". That means you have something of his interest. Now let me tell you, Bucky's business is _thriving_ at the moment, and if there's anything he wants it's to live as a free man. A person who is in such power to grant immunity to an assassin..."

He trailed off and his eyes twinkled. "And, of course, your likeness. If I had ten gold, I'd bet them all on you being the crown prince himself."

Tony groaned internally. He knew he should've soiled his clothes and maybe shaved off his goatee.

"What do you have to say to this," Steve said.

"A couple of y'all said that I could last you an year if you're careful?" Tony said. "First of all, please don't eat me, second of all, storing meat for that long is extremely unh-"

"You fool!" Steve sneered. "We're not cannibals! We don't eat people! And I asked what you have to say to being the prince!"

Tony sighed and paused. These gremlins were fucking smart. "I just need a place to lie low. I can help you with anything you need for however long I trespass your kindness."

Steve looked incredibly smug.

"Help is expected, of course. We need good weapons... Stephen will show you to the armory. Now leave me be."

And then they left. On the way to the basement, which Steve liked to refer to as the armory, (Clint was right. Steve was rather dramatic) Tony asked Stephen again.

"Genuinely, what did you mean by me lasting a year and stuff?"

He just sighed like Tony had asked the stupidest thing ever and didn't respond.

"You'll find everything in the cabinet. Extra tools are in the kitchen cabinet and if you need anything else, just ask Sharon."

-

Tony settled in pretty well in the gremlins' cottage. He always liked to work to keep things off his mind, so he made improvements to their hunting tools, built them some better ones, and created a simple liquid that could indicate poisonous berries, fruits, and the sort.

He had a slightly bigger chair than the rest of them and Clint made him some really stylish clothes, too (that one knew his way with a needle). And in return, Tony made him better hearing aids when he found out that Clint was deaf and his own ones barely worked (thus his shouting in the woods).

One evening during dinner, Steve ordered him to go to the market in the neighbouring town. They didn't like to go to the main city, prefering to keep to themselves. When asked why they were hiding, Steve only shrugged.

"They'll gape at us like animals in a zoo," he said. He tried to be nonchalant but Tony could see something hurt in his eyes. He also found out Steve had a huge, unrequited crush on Bucky. Which certainly explained his theatrics on the day Tony got there.

Tony had originally refused to go to the market, but Steve wouldn't have any of it.

"Take Natasha and Stephen," he said. "See if the news of your disappearance has gotten round. See the news. You've been cooped up for long enough. Maybe... maybe get a drink."

He added the last after a pause, as if he was cautious of it. Tony nodded.

The gremlins sold fruit to the vendors, the rare kind, and bought what they couldn't make, like soap, and pasta sauce. Tony wore a hoodie and pulled the hood over so people didn't recognize him, as did Stephen and Natasha, since they didn't want to be detected as gremlins. After business, they went to a small, local bar. The perfect place for gossip and a drink.

"Go, mingle," Natasha said. "See what you can find. Stephen and I will stay outside."

Tony looked at her curiously. He wanted to know why they didn't want to go in, but he shut up. He'd seen her hip-throw Clint and Scott too many times. Nevertheless, he went in and looked at the bartender. Perfect victim. He sat down at the bar.

"What can I get ya?" the bartender asked.

"Two shots of vodka," Tony replied.

"Straight?"

"No, bi."

The bartender blushed a little as he fought a smile. "I meant the vodka."

"Straight then," Tony winked. Flirting was his natural playground. The bartender poured his drinks.

"So, heard any news from the city lately?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, haven't you heard? There's some sort of problem. Queen Stane postponed the festival celebration. The guests are all staying there. This is how feuds start, lemme tell you. Bunch of nobles cooped up in a castle," he said conversationally, then went on about all the scandals he knew about.

"There's been a security problem," he put in. "Something about the prince. No one knows what, though. General Hogan has doubled security around Queen Stane and the castle, apparently."

Tony stood up abruptly at that. "Thanks."

"But you haven't touched your drinks," the bartender frowned.

"Nevermind," Tony said, tipping him generously before going outside. He almost jumped out of his skin when Natasha tapped him on the shoulder.

"Find anything?" she asked as they made their way back.

"Yeah," Tony said, "Yeah I did."

Her expression was unreadable but she didn't ask anything. When they got back to the cottage, she disappeared in Steve's study and didn't come out for a while. Tony went to the kitchen and cleared his throat when he saw Sharon. He'd learned to do that because one time he snuck up on her and she was _this_ close to slitting his throat.

"Hey princess," she said. "Come on, why are you standing around? Either stir the stew or cut the veggies. I can't do both at once."

Tony liked the gremlins. They didn't ask him questions and read him well and never made anything uncomfortable. He lapsed into companionable silence with Sharon as he took a knife and began chopping.

"So," he said, "why are gremlins under hiding? Are there more of you?"

She studied his face before apparently deeming him trustworthy and saying, "There are several who live across the kingdom. We don't do anything illegal. We're under hiding because we don't want humans to cut us open and harvest our juices."

Tony choked. "H-harvest-?"

"It's definitely not in the history books," she said. She had to tilt her head up to look at him. "Gremlins are everything the legends say, but they leave out the most important bit: we have magic in our organs."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know that."

Sharon shrugged. She looked strangely vulnerable and Tony suddenly got the deal with the whole protective and privacy thing the gremlins and felt guilty for thinking they were brash. He felt like Sharon would be the kind of sister he'd want if he had one.

"Hey," she slapped his shoulder. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

And then the rest of the gremlins entered the kitchen, chatting and talking. Clint hip-bumped him on his way to sniff the stew, which earned him a rap on the head from Sharon. Steve, Natasha, Sam, Scott and Stephen sat at the table. Tony felt strangely at home here, in a magical cottage out in the middle of the forest.

"Dinner's ready!" he called, and smiled at the cheer that went up.

-

It was close to about three weeks now that Tony was staying at the gremlins. He'd made friends with almost all of them. Sharon and Natasha taught him to fight and he modeled many times for Clint, who was really good at the fashion thing. He and Steve bantered all the time, but there was no real tension or malice between them. Stephen taught him a bit of magic and every evening he'd play ridiculous drinking games with Sam and Scott.

He was wearing a ridiculous toga that Clint wanted him to try, (much to Steve's disappointment) when the knock came. Everyone went silent because no one was supposed to know about the cottage; there were glamours in place and you could only see the place if you knew about it.

Sharon and Natasha shared a look before getting up together. They gave each other a nod and Sharon peaked through the peephole and sighed in relief.

"Oh, it's you," she said, opening the door to reveal Bucky. Steve shot up from his chair.

"Mind if I come in? I've got news. From the castle," he said grimly, finding Tony's eyes immediately. He didn't exchange pleasantries as he took a seat on the floor. Tony's knuckles were white from how tight he was gripping the armrest of his seat.

"What?" he asked.

"The festival is postponed," he said. "It was originally going to be postponed to last week, but there were security problems. All the local nobles have called in their forces. It's to be next week."

"Certainly explains why we haven't received the GremCon invite," Natasha said, equally as serious.

"What's GremCon?" Tony asked.

"The annual Gremlin Convention," Bucky replied. "They always have it on the day of the festival because it's in the forest and everyone stays in town for the festival. To avoid detection."

"Well, the invite should be due now that the festival date is fixed. Three days," Steve said, turning directly to Bucky. "Will you be able to stay here at the cottage for the while? To protect Tony?"

"Hey!" Tony protested. "I can take care of myself!"

Bucky shook his head. "Much as I'd like to, I'm a wanted man already," he turned to Tony. "I gave him the heart, and got the hell out, but he discovered it's a fake and he's blaming me for your kidnapping. They've got posters with my face on it, and yours."

Tony groaned.

"You know what? Wait," Tony said, standing up and going to his room. He dug through his satchel to find the pouch of emergency money that he always carried with him. He returned to the living room and handed it to Bucky.

"Go. Stay in hiding," Tony said. "You have my word, I'll clear your name when I'm king."

Bucky's face softened. "You don't have to-"

Tony shook his head, pushing the pouch in his hands. "No, I absolutely do. And your mascara is still horrible."

Bucky chuckled softly. "Well, then. There's some other news too, before I go."

-

Tony couldn't sleep that night. The huntsman was good at stealth, he had to give him that. He'd told Tony all about the increased security. Happy and Jarvis were worried sick, but they also didn't know Stane was in on this. The festival would happen, no matter what. The public didn't know about Tony's disappearance, but there were whispers. He'd stopped appearing altogether, which didn't often happen, as Tony frequented the local bar all the time. And it would be blatant after the festival that he was absent and something was wrong.

Jarvis _had_ to have some sort of clue about this. He'd never liked Stane and warned Tony to stay away from him. Surely-

Tony groaned and turned over in his bed. He was overthinking again. Bucky had said he'd go to the castle one last time: to give Pepper the pendrive. Tony felt so very responsible for everyone's safety and tense for it- he couldn't just let this slide. Whatever Stane was planning. He had to do something or he wouldn't be a good prince to his kingdom, not when people were putting their necks on the line for him. Hell, he wouldn't even be a good person, let alone a good prince. He had to do it for his people. After all, he was all they had now.

When he woke up the next day, he asked Stephen to show him how to put up a glamour, which earned him the most piercing narrowed eyes he'd ever seen. And he'd worked with Pepper through all his shenanigans when he was a teenager.

"What?" Tony asked casually. "I'm looking to expand my many talents."

That got him an eye roll and Stephen turned to his shelves before handing him a book.

"They're fairly easy, just read up and you'll be alright," he said and paused. "And for the love of God, please, please, don't try anything stupid."

"Aww," Tony teased. "Are the stone hearted gremlins starting to care for a human?"

That earned him a very piercing glare. He wondered what other pointy facial expressions Stephen had and if he'd ever get to see all of them.

-

The night before the festival began, the gremlins began packing up and getting ready to leave for GremCon. Tony figured he'd go see Steve first.

"Hey," he said. Steve held up eyeliners to him.

"Black or blue? Clint says blue goes well with my eyes, but I want to do black for the smoky look," he said. Tony smiled.

"Black, definitely," he said. "I got you something."

He handed him the locket. It was a disc with a few rings and a star at the centre.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" Steve crooned, before hugging him. His arms only came to Tony's middle and Tony patted his head.

"Alright then," he said. "Goodbye."

"It's only three days, Tony," Steve said with a snort. "And they say _I'm_ the dramatic one."

He made everyone something: knives for Sharon and Natasha, a wings locket for Sam, hearing aids that had arrow earrings attached to them for Clint, cuff-links for Stephen and a box of ants for Scott, who had a very weird fascination with them.

"Hey man, you okay?" Sam asked. "You look kinda sad."

"Yeah, yeah totally," Tony dismissed. He definitely wasn't tearing up for a bunch of gremlins. They all waved at Tony as they started through the forest. Stephen had put on a bunch of protective charms. Tony hurried back into his room and began packing.

All his belongings, a quick snack in case he got hungry, a few small tool packs, his beloved wrist canon and mini toolkit. He looked at the mostly empty pack and slumped his shoulders. He had a plan. A very unplanned plan, but then, Tony was amazing at improvising. He was going to crash the festival. Well, not crash, exactly. He was going to sneak into the royal palace, and disable Stane's omniscient mirror and demand some answers. Then Stane would surrender, or they would fight, and Tony would win, and the coup would be unearthed and Stane would be jailed, or executed. 

Now, he didn't really have a plan, but he knew the castle by heart. He was a smart guy. He was going to end it tonight. At least, that's what he told himself in the mirror. He looked at his face. Wet from washing. A perfect combination of his mother and father's. He didn't care much about his father, but his mother... he hoped she would be proud. 

He took his pack back to the living room, leaving a note for the gremlins on his bed- in case he didn't make it, tried not to be sad about it and waited it out for the dark to fall.

-

_Knock, knock, knock._

Tony's blood went cold. Beads of sweat started appearing on his forehead before he looked through the peephole. He was all packed up for his trek back to the castle, and was still waiting for it to be sufficiently dark. He wouldn't need the darkness in the woods, obviously, but in the city, the festival would be in full swing. It was opening night, after all.

So when the knock came, he tiptoed to the door. How was this person even seeing the cottage through all the glamours? No how did they know about the gremlins' cottage in the first place? He just hoped they would think the cottage is empty and leave.

"Donuts!" they called. "Fresh, warm donuts!"

It was so dark outside, and the festival was starting. Why was someone selling donuts, his favorite food, in the woods?

"Donuts please, to help an old woman!"

"No thanks!" Tony called out. "I've just had some!"

"Please," the voice crooned. "I need the money."

This was the scariest thing that had ever happened to Tony. His heart was beating harder than a motor and he was sweating. He took out a spare coin. The faster this old lady was out of his way, the better, he decided. He didn't want to lose time after it got dark. He shouldered his satchel, hooked a sword and a knife to his waist and held about in his hand, at caution.

"Even a coin will do," the woman outside said, as if on cue.

"Come to the window, I can't open the door," he said. He watched the woman shuffle as she came to the window. Her back was hunched and her hands looked sickly greenish in the dark evening. Her face remained under the hood but Tony could see the tip of a hooked nose, and in her arms, a basket full of warm, delicious smelling donuts. She offered him one. Tony took it, throwing the coin down on the ground and shutting the window as quickly as he opened it.

"Bless you," she said, before shuffling off. Tony waited with bated breath for her to go, until she disappeared in the darkness. Tony would've headed out, but he didn't want to cross paths with the hag, so he decided to wait for another half hour. He almost took a bite out of the donut when he saw something gleam outside.

The woman hadn't taken the coin. Jarvis' words suddenly rang in his head.

_"Don't eat anything the Queen offers you."_

Gut instinct made Tony toss the donut away. It was just way too suspicious.

"Definitely not eating that," he muttered to himself. It was bad logic to, anyways. A strange woman appears in your hidden, protected and secluded cottage in the woods and insists you have a donut, what do you do? You don't eat it. Anyone who would is a dumbass.

Instead, Tony took out his lighter and began flicking it. Waiting. He dropped to the floor, holding the flame to the donut. He waited for it to catch flame. Something to warm him up. The donut caught flame and turned to black powder instead of burning. Tony almost fell stumbling back. That was a sure sign of magical poisoning.

So that woman was _definitely_ shady.

Tony let out a shaky breath. He wondered if Stane had sent her. He probably had, and he knew Tony was here, alone. Tony couldn't help but feel betrayal course through him. He had really thought Stane would be part of his family- he trusted him. And here the man was, with his magic mirror, trying his very best to kill him. 

The sun dipped fully below the treeline and Tony set out, fingers tight on the straps of his backpack, turning to look at the lovely cottage. The glamours were intact but Tony still put a few more, with a protective spell over the place that he had called home for the past few weeks, and set out to his castle.

-

The hike didn't wind Tony up at all. Maybe it was because he'd prepared for the worst tonight. His glamour was good enough that people ignored him. Besides, he had a baseball hat and shades on. With that, obviously no one would recognize him. _Obviously._

On reaching the castle garden, the centre of the festival, Tony saw them at the main table: Jarvis and Happy. He looked for Pepper but he couldn't find her anywhere at the table. Stane neither. He was sure Stane was still getting ready inside. He was a queen after all and had to keep appearances. That worried him a bit. He had to get past some tough security tonight.

_Go for the pressure points._

Tony remembered Natasha's words before skirting along the edge of the outer gates to get to the side ones. He took out the first guard and then the second, only knocking them out and not causing any harm. He climbed over the high gate, jumping over the first guy's head and knocking him out with a good ol' chloroform kerchief pressed over the guy's mouth. The second guard had a gun trained on him.

"Hands over your head!" he yelled. Tony hissed. Last thing he needed was to draw attention. He struggled to get rid of the glamour, but Stephen had trained his well and he was fast learner, so he managed to dissolve it quickly enough. The guy dropped his gun and his jaw reached the floor. Tony grinned.

"Y- you're the prince!" he said loudly.

"Shhh!" Tony scolded.

" _You're the prince,_ " he whisper-yelled. "I'm Gary, I have you tattooed on my arm! And your goatee!"

"I know, Gary, I know," Tony said, nodding encouragingly at him. "But I need your help, do you think you could do that?"

Gary nodded furiously.

"Okay, I need you to distract every guard so I can sneak into the castle," he said. "Can you cause a distraction?"

"Yeah," he was still staring at Tony with his jaw dropped.

"Alright, go," Tony said. Gary didn't move, so Tony sighed and turned to him, kissing him on the cheek, patting the other one in a few almost-slaps to break him out of the stupor. Gary looked fully flushed in the face.

"Do it for me, Gary," Tony said, ruffling his hair a little. Gary closed his jaw and nodded resolutely.

He went back to his post and began yelling about sighting an intruder. It was almost funny how quickly the guards rushed there. Tony snuck into the castle; he was going to have a chat with Stane.

Tony was surprised to find no guards outside Stane's bedchambers. He pushed open the huge ornate doors and they glided open without a creak. Tony didn't even have to put in much effort. Sweet. He crept along the wall. He would first have to deactivate Stane's mirror, Ten Rings, because it had omniscient cameras everywhere. Once he figured that out, he would corner Stane, who was probably getting ready in the inner chamber.

Tony assumed Stane didn't record his own room, since, well he was in it right now and that's just plain weird. Tony knelt near the wall in a darkened corner and fished out two things from the pack: his bracelet, that grew into a repulsor for safety and in case his plan didn't work, and his compact tool kit, which he fastened around his other wrist. Then he got up and began pressing the stones on the wall. Tony knew the castle. He'd studied its architecture as a part of his education, and the inner mechanisms were the most interesting. There _had_ to be a control panel to the room's lighting and power here.

Sure enough, one stone pressed in and slid open, revealing the panel.

"Yay," Tony muttered happily. He knew that the magic mirror was connected to the camera network, and he could disable that, at least, if he couldn't shut the mirror down entirely. He got to work quickly, frowning at the wires.

The black wire was ground, so why were there two of them? Tony pulled one up with a tweezer. This was the ground wire. And the other- yes. It had a golden strip on the otherside. That had to be the mirror. Tony hadn't known Stane knew about wiring. Either that, or the mirror was very smart. Tony cut the wire, right down the middle and cut out a small piece out, and sealed the edges where he'd cut the piece out into a burnt fuse, so the mirror had no chance to self repair. Last thing he wanted was the mirror working again.

So now, hopefully, the mirror couldn't see.

He ventured inside the inner chamber. Stane stood there in all his glory, wearing a midnight blue ball gown with pearls on it. Tony had to admit, the pearls provided good contrast, but the dress wasn't his style. He was sure Steve would approve, though.

"Mother," Tony said. The mirror spoke instead.

"The boy blinds me," it said. "I cannot see- it is all gray static. It's all black and white ants."

"Tony," Stane said, putting on a diamond necklace. A very familiar diamond necklace.

"That's my mom's," Tony said. Stane touched it preciously.

"It is, though it does suit me, don't you think?" he asked. Tony's heart was beating very fast. He'd never spoken rudely to someone like Stane before.

"I- I don't think it does, actually," Tony said. "It's common sense: there's pearls on your dress. Wear a pearl necklace."

Stane put on his white satin gloves, which came to his mid-forearms.

"But this signifies something, Tony," Stane said. "I was going to come find you. Thank you for making my job easier."

Tony grabbed his bracelet and pulled on the reactor onto his palm, pointing it directly at Stane. But even as bulky as he was, Stane was quick. And physically stronger than him. Tony tried to remember what Natasha and Sharon had taught him but nothing came to mind. Stane punched Tony in the gut and did something that paralysed him. Tony tried but he couldn't move. He started to sweat an ungodly amount and he could feel the blood receding from his arms which were beginning to turn cold.

"This is how you die," Stane said, before muttering a spell. A spell Tony recognized. Tony's eyes widened and he gasped in horror as he felt the magic tear at his chest, where the real arc reactor was.

Stane smiled evilly as he pushed his hand into Tony's chest- it went clean through- and pulled out the bright blue arc reactor.

-

Lady Virginia Potts, Pepper if you were her friend, was a talented woman. Not only was she incredibly organized, super smart and basically ran her father's duchy, she could also run in heels. In _heels_ heels. But even as talented as she was with everything, hiking in the woods at night in heels wasn't a forte of hers. She was sure it wasn't for anyone else either, and that she was probably managing better than any other person would.

"Damn you Tony," she hissed as the pencil heel once more sunk into the soft, muddy dirt of the forest floor. Her horse had booked into the night the second she got off it and now her stockings were stained, her heels muddy and her feet were aching so badly, she would've taken them off if she wasn't wearing fucking stockings and the soil wasn't fucking wet.

She held her hand out and leaned it against a tree she was sure she'd seen about fifteen minutes ago, and moved her ankle in a circle, trying to get the pain out. Then the other.

Pepper sighed and faced it: she was lost. And her feet hurt and she was going to cry here, except she wasn't, because she'd seen the footage. Tony needed her. And she was going to find this damned cottage in the woods and she'd find it if it took her the entire night. The huntsman, the White Wolf gave her a pendrive and started to run away, but she hip-threw him into the ground and demanded some answers. He told her about what Stane was planning, and that Tony had told him she would know what to do with the drive. 

Thing was, she didn't. In fact, she had zero clue on what was going on. And then there were the rumors of Stane announcing his coronation on the night, and she couldn't stand it. She ran away, in the ball gown, and into the woods, to find Tony himself. Unfortunately, the huntsman hadn't been helpful with the location of the cottage, and had slipped away before she could confront him. So she grit her teeth and told herself she'd do it on her own, like everything else in her life.

And really, she was doing fine. Right until she heard the bushes move. Pepper froze. She wished she could've worn different clothes. Her ivory ball gown in the moonlight in the middle of the woods was basically like holding up a neon sign that said 'Predators! Come get me! Tasty food here!" So basically, she was not doing fine, was lost, and was being stalked by something in the bushes.

"Shut up, Clint, it's not a ghost!" she heard someone say.

"But it's wearing white and it has red hair-"

"I have red hair too Clint, so what are you implying?"

Whoever Clint was, stayed silent at that.

"Who's there?" Pepper called. "I don't wanna hurt you, I'm just lost."

Slowly, a very short muscular man strode out of the bushes.

"What were you trying to find? Shouldn't you be at the festival?" He asked. Pepper slumped her shoulders in relief and bent her neck to get the strain out.

"Yeah, it's just- my friend is in danger. I have to help him," Pepper said. "Forgive me if I'm forward, but are you a dwarf, sir?"

"A _dwarf?!_ " The man exclaimed. "How dare you!"

A few more people, just as short, some even a little shorter, came out of the bushes too.

"I- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you!" Pepper said immediately. The man huffed.

"We're gremlins," a short red head said. Probably the one who shut Clint up. Whoever he was.

"I-" Pepper didn't know what to say. "Okay?"

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the castle?" the stocky blond one asked.

"My friend needs my help," Pepper explained. "He's very much in mortal danger. He could die tonight."

The gremlins all exchanged looks.

"Does he by chance have a goatee?" the redhead asked. Pepper's eyes widened.

"Yeah, that's him? How'd you know," Pepper asked suspiciously.

"He's been staying with us for the past couple weeks," the stocky blond explained again. "We know where he is."

"Oh my god, can you tell me where?" Pepper said worriedly. "Please, he needs saving, he's stupid and doesn't hesitate in hurting himself."

"That sounds like him," Redhead said to Stocky Blond. "Stephen and I will show her to the cottage and once Tony is with his princess charming, we'll catch up."

The rest of them nodded.

"Well then, we'll get going," Stocky Blond said. "I'm Steve, by the way. This is Natasha and Stephen. They'll take you to him."

Pepper nodded gratefully.

The hike to the cottage was pretty short, so Pepper hadn't been off by much. It was dark inside.

"Strange," Stephen said. "At least one light should be on."

"Yeah," Pepper said. "Tony like, hardly sleeps."

They opened the door. The place was bigger on the inside than on the outside. Pepper figured it was gremlin magic; they didn't have a lot of gremlin lore, but she knew gremlins could do strong magic.

"Tony?" Natasha asked. Silence.

"Tony?" Pepper's voice came in more worried and hoarse than she expected. "Tony, it's me! I got the pendrive and I didn't know what to do! I didn't plug it anywhere! Please stop if you're kidding around!" Still no response. Natasha turned to Stephen.

"Take the top," she said, taking out a pair of knives. "Pepper, stay behind me."

After scouring the entire house twice, they found out Tony wasn't in it. Natasha slammed the door to the room Tony slept in.

"I found a note!" She said. "He's- he's gone. He's gone to confront- Stane?"

"Oh god," Pepper slapped her forehead. "Stane's gonna kill him, oh my-"

"Wait, he's a prince for real?" Natasha asked with wide eyes. "I mean, we all suspected, but we all just thought he was some important noble."

"I didn't," Stephen piped. "I didn't but no one believed me."

"Wait, shut up!" Pepper said. "I'm going to kill Stane, ugh. We have to go to the castle right now! You have to come with me! I'll pay you- anything-"

"Jeez, we'll come," Natasha said. "We're not that heartless. We'll go save your man in distress."

"He's not-" Pepper frowned. "Well, yeah, maybe he is."

"Alrighty, let's go save a prince."

-

Tony lay there on the cold floor for what felt like hours.The worst thing of all was that Tony couldn't do anything. He couldn't even move properly. He could feel the shrapnel. It was seeping inside. Everything felt slow. He could move a little if he tried.

He started to crawl across the floor. If he could just get to the door-

Too painful. His chest flared up like he was being stabbed, which, to be honest, maybe he was. Shrapnel was sharp.

So this was how he was going to die. His throat got tight. He was letting down a whole bunch of people: Jarvis, Happy, Pepper, his entire kingdom.

His mother.

The thought of her made Tony choke with tears. She would be so disappointed in him. And it was the last thing he ever wanted. So he closed his eyes. He figured the shrapnel would cut through his heart any moment now, he was starting to get dizzy. He thought he heard the door open but maybe that was just his imagination.

Maybe he'd died already.

-

Pepper relished being able to walk on a flat surface. Stephen had magicked them to the castle pretty quickly. She ran to Tony's room and he wasn't there. Maybe she was wrong. What if Tony _was_ dying in the forest? She shook the thought away and ushered the two gremlins into Tony's lab.

"Dum-E!" She said. "Darling, do you know where Tony is?"

Pepper was on the verge of tears. The machine made whirring noises and a hologram shot up from his lens. Tony was lying on the floor, his skin pale as snow and a hole torn open in his blouse.

"I know where that is," Pepper said. Dum-E whirred again furiously, and broke open a glass cabinet. Pepper followed the bot's arm. The cabinet. Tony's torn shirt.

"His heart," Pepper whispered. "That asshole took his heart."

She rushed to the cabinet and pulled open a secret drawer. It was an older model, she knew, because she'd helped Tony change it once herself. She grabbed the arc reactor and they ran to Stane's bedroom. Sure enough, Tony was in the inner chamber, his eyes closed and his face sweaty.

"You're not dying," she said firmly.

"I'll do the spell," Stephen said. Pepper nodded.

When he did the spell, Pepper pushed the arc back in. Nothing happened. Stephen performed a few more general spells.

"He's- I got rid of the paralysis, but here's having trouble breathing. His heart almost completely stopped," Stephen said. Pepper was not having this. She began chest compressions. She was fairly trained in first aid.

"Still not breathing," Stephen said. Pepper tilted his chin up and pressed her mouth to his. After another compression or two, Tony sat up, coughing and sputtering. Pepper could have cried with relief right then.

"Wha- I died?" he began.

"But you didn't, thanks to me," Pepper said, still panting from all the running around and glaring at him weakly. He breathed slowly, in and out.

"Thanks to you," Tony echoed.

"True love's kiss," Natasha said. "Like legend says. Didn't know it would be CPR, though."

"B-but Stane-"

"We're getting rid of him," Pepper said, nodding. "But _I'm_ pushing the button on that. And you're staying safe somewhere."

"Alright," Tony said. He sounded a little giddy. Then he looked up at Pepper and wagged his eyes.

"So you kissed me, huh?" bhe grinned.

"Um, you were dying?" Pepper said but Tony's grin never faded.

"Wish I was awake though," he sighed dramatically. Natasha and Stephen coughed.

"We have a supervillain to take care of?"

Pepper blushed. "Yes, of course. Let's do that right now."

-

The coronation feast for Tony was held the evening after Stane's execution. A few days had passed, Stane's evil scemes had been unearthed to the court, and he'd been charged accordingly. Tony found Bucky near the bar.

"Settling well?" he asked. Bucky smiled.

"I might have to turn down the army deal. Just take the civilian life. Maybe have a garden," he said. Tony clapped him on the shoulder.

"Anything you want my friend," Tony looked around before adding, in a low voice, "How are the gremlins? Have they considered my offer to be out in the public? The protection act?"

"They're having one of those huge sessions," Bucky sighed. "The ones where they argue and argue and argue before finally deciding something. It's for an entire community, you know? And they've been under hiding for so long, it'll take a little time."

"We have time," Tony said brightly. "We don't need to rush. They can take their time if they want. Last thing I wanna do is pressure them. I just want them to know that they have that option. And safety."

Bucky looked thoughtful. "You're a good man, Tony. And no doubt a great king."

"Don't go flattering me now," Tony said warmly, walking off. "Enjoy the booze. It's some of my favorites."

Soon, it was time. Happy went up to the podium and announced Tony's coronation would take place in the following days, which got a cheer from the people. As if it wasn't obvious. Tony was the crown prince, why were people congratulating him? Pepper planted a quick kiss on his cheek when she came to give her congratulations.

"A kiss? Ooh, scandalous," Tony teased, which earned him a rap on the arm.

"I'll be visiting often," she looked happy. "Father gave me some Duchess duties to handle here. We'll be seeing a lot of each other."

"Your little sister can handle those," Tony said dismissively. "I've got bigger plans for you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Like being the prime minister and ruling this thing while I work in the lab," Tony said. Pepper's eyes went wide.

"You're not serious," she said, then saw Tony's look. "Oh my God, you're serious."

"Sit down for a bit, darling," Tony said, offering her his glass which she took. "And do not cry tears of joy. What is this, a fairytale?"

He left her like that to get himself another drink.

"So," Happy said, which made Tony almost jump out of his skin. Happy and Jarvis were standing by the punch bowl.

"Oh, gosh. It's you. Scared me for a sec."

"Pepper, huh?" He asked. Tony smiled.

"Yeah, I made her my Prime-"

"Are you gonna marry her?"

They said at the same time. Tony blushed beet red.

"We're not- um. I mean, like-" he began.

"It certainly makes sense," Jarvis said. "She did act as your Princess Charming."

"We're just friends," Tony mumbled. "I've gotta go."

Jarvis chuckled. "Kids, huh?"

"Oh, they'll come around, Happy said. "It's not like I'll have to hold the ring for ten years or anything."

**Fin.**

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos and a comment if you like it! I don't write for mcu, but I'd still appreciate it. I do write for dc, if you're into it you can check out my works on my page <3


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